


Elitist Nightmares

by ninak803



Category: Coast to Coast - lumosinlove, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Muggle, Assassin Remus, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 00:01:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28572672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninak803/pseuds/ninak803
Summary: Remus receives a new mission and it includes the heir of the Black family: Sirius Black.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Leo Knut/Finn O'Hara/Logan Tremblay (lumosinlove), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter 1

**Remus**

Remus was standing in the small, overheated office. He had goosebumps nevertheless, but they didn't come from the room temperature or because he was feeling cold. 

They came because of his new mission, which he had just received. He knew it would come eventually, just the when was unclear. Until now. 

And he knew it had to be him, he was the best for this job.

He tucked the inconspicuous folder neatly under his arm and blinked against the darkness in the room to make out his boss’s silhouette

“Be done by the end of this month, Lupin.” a low voice said.

He turned around without another word and left his boss's office.

Remus was packing his backpack when his phone rang. He looked at the screen but didn’t recognize the number. That was weird. Just a few people had this phone number; and he knew all of their numbers by heart.

He picked it up.

“Hello?” Remus said.

There was a short moment of silence.

“Is there Remus Lupin?” a male voice said. It sounded young, with a southern accent.

“Who are you?” Remus asked, disgruntled.

“Oh yeah. I’m sorry. I’m Leo Knut. Dumbledore gave me your number. I’m sorry. I should have said that right away.”

Ah. So he called on Dumbledore's behalf. It must have something to do with his new mission.

“How can I help you?”

Remus looked at his watch. He didn’t have the time to make small talk right now, so this Leo Knut better hurried up a bit.

“I get the feeling that Dumbledore didn’t tell you the slightest thing about me, did he?” the caller sounded irritated.

“Well, I don’t know who you are or why you’re calling me, so obviously he didn’t. And hurry up a bit, could you? I don’t have time for this right now.”

Remus knew he sounded unfriendly and harsh, but he wanted to start this new job today and for that he still had a lot to prepare.

“I’m sorry, I know, but I’m your partner for this mission.”

“My what? My partner? I don’t work with partners. This must be a mistake.”

“Uh… No. Dumbledore told me himself.” Leo said.

“Okay, okay. We shouldn’t be talking about this on the phone. You know where I live, I guess? Be here in 10 minutes, we can talk then.” 

Remus didn’t wait for his answer and hung up.

He sighed.

A partner? Dumbledore knew pretty well that he was working alone. He didn’t need a partner, damn he didn’t want a partner!

Damn it.

Remus finished packing his backpack. He had put a water bottle, a pen and a notebook in there. He still needed some energy bars and apples just if he became hungry. Just in case.

The doorbell rang, and he went to the main door to open it.

Remus scanned his visitor quickly with an experienced look.

In front of him stood an approximately 1,85m to 1,90m tall, blonde boy. Remus guessed he wasn’t even 20 yet. His smile was bright and his blue eyes friendly. He had a grey streak of hair; he noticed. He wore simple blue jeans and a dark grey shirt, nothing remarkable. Good.

Remus stepped aside to let him in, then he closed the door behind them.

Leo held his hand up for Remus to take it, then shook it gently.

“Hi. I’m Leo Knut. Nice to meet you.”

Remus nodded.

“Nice to meet you. Here. Sit down, please. We have some talking to do.” 

Remus led him to the kitchen where Leo sat down on one of the chairs. Remus took two glasses out of the cupboard, filled them with water and handed him one of them, then sat down across from him.

“Merci.” Leo said as he took the glass.

“You’re from the South. Louisiana?” 

Leo nodded.

“New Orleans.”

Leo then filled him in. 

Dumbledore had forgotten to inform Remus that he will have a partner for this mission. It felt more like he didn’t tell him on purpose, because he knew Remus would protest. He didn’t need a partner and Dumbledore knew this damn well.

But Leo also said that he was new to this, and he needed a teacher and there wasn’t a better one than Remus.

He sighed.

“Okay, okay, you can work with me.” The younger ones' eyes lit up at that. “But we need rules. First you do as you're told. No acting on your own. Don’t question what I’m doing, I give you explanations when the time’s right. You have to be on time. And you’re staying in the background, don’t complain about it. Got it?”

Leo nodded.

“Okay. Good. So you know what we have to do next?”

“We’re observing Sirius Orion Black, heir of the Black Family, 25 years old, next one in power.”

“Right. This will take us some time. We need to figure out his habits, get to know the places where he goes. We simply need to get to know him but, and this is most important, he must not notice us. Never. And then…”

“Then?” Leo tilted his head.

“Then, when the opportunity arises, I'm going to kill him.”

Leo and Remus agreed to meet tomorrow morning at 5:30 am again, then start their investigation.

Remus sighed and sat down on his bed. This job just got a lot more complicated than he’d thought. There was a reason he usually worked alone: It wasn’t the safest job in the world and if something went wrong, which it usually doesn’t because he was careful but you never know, he was the only one to get hurt and no one else, only his life would be destroyed. But now there was Leo, and he seemed eager to learn, so Remus just had to be extra careful. Maybe it was good to have a second pair of eyes to watch for once. This was the most important mission Remus ever received. 

The Black family were the ones ruling the country, Orion Black to be more precise. Officially his wife Walburga didn’t have to say a thing in state affairs, but everyone knew she was holding the strings.

They had two sons: Sirius Orion Black, their oldest son and heir to the imperium, and Regulus Arcturus Black, the younger one.

This country had a democracy once, but it was long gone now. The Black family was in power now for the 6. generation and they didn’t plan on letting go, if anything they just made their position stronger and clearer over the years. And they weren’t good for the country, they weren’t good for the people. The only thing they were good at was making themselves richer and all the other poorer. There was a huge gap.

The plan was to finally end their reign with ending their descendents and then bring back democracy to this country.

**Sirius**

He woke up to a knock on his door. The sun was already shining through his bedroom window; the birds singing noisily and Sirius turned around, pulled his sheets over his head and closed his eyes again. He really didn’t want to get up. If he gets up, he has to deal with his family again and he just didn’t want to.

There was another knock on his door, more persistent this time, followed by a voice:

“Sirius, open the door. It’s me. I know you’re awake.”

Sirius sighed and got up. He unlocked the door, opened it and stepped aside so James could come inside.

James, a mess of black curls and blind without his glasses. His valet, his bodyguard and, most important, his best friend. His only reason he wasn’t completely insane by now.

Sirius walked back to his bed and sat down, still just in his underwear and a t-shirt, but he didn’t care, not in front of James. He had seen him worse, much worse.

“You’re here to bring me today's agenda, I assume?” Sirius said with a still hoarse voice from sleeping.

“You assume right my friend.” James answered and sat down next to him on the bed.

James smiled at him, a gentle and honest smile, not like the false and mean ones he received from his parents.

He told him what he had to do for the day. Being at this meeting, showing up at that meeting, having dinner with his family and some apparently important people. If he was lucky, he had some time to himself between meeting number two and dinner today, so that was a ray of hope at least.

“And now you should get up, take a shower, put some clean clothes on and get some breakfast. Your parents are already gone, don’t worry. Regulus is still waiting for you though, he told me to catch you.”

James got up and headed for the door.

“James?”

The other boy turned around and looked at Sirius, an eyebrow raised.

“Thanks. For sticking around.” 

“Of course.”

James smiled at him again and then left.

After showering, Sirius went into the dining room, where his brother was still sitting at his usual place. 

The table was filled with more food than any of them could eat: There were croissants, different kinds of fresh bread, pastries and fresh fruits.

Sirius sat down and reached for the coffee pot.

“It’s empty.” Regulus said without looking up from the newspaper he was reading.

Sirius wanted to say something, showing his brother his annoyance, but Regulus spoke again:

“I already ordered fresh coffee. Should be here any moment.”

Almost at the same moment one of the servants showed up and filled Sirius’ cup with fresh, steaming coffee.

“Thanks.” he said, not sure if he was talking to his brother or the servant.

He drank his coffee and had some fruits before he noticed Regulus eyes lingering on him.

“What’s up, brother dear?” he asked him.

“This dinner today is important.”

Sirius rolled his eyes.

“Shut up, Reggie.”

“Don’t call me that. You have to behave for once, don’t be… just don’t be you. Behave.”

The anger rose inside of Sirius. He should not be himself? Then who the fuck was he supposed to be?

“Didn’t Mom and Dad have time today to give me The Talk, or is that why you’re doing this?”

“Oh, I bet they will do it later. Just listen to me, it’s important. This dinner is important for the whole family, okay? You’re part of the family. You’re supposed to be the heir, act like it then.”

Sirius got up and left the room without another word.

He wasn’t hungry anymore


	2. Chapter 2

**Remus**

It was calm outside, everyone still asleep except for him and Leo. The sun was rising and Remus parked the rental car in a good distance from the Black's mansion, but not too far so he can still watch who’s leaving and arriving.

He had picked up the car last night from a rental agency at the airport. He’d given them his fake I.D., no one needed to know who he really was, and it was much safer that way. He tried to be as unremarkable as possible: He wore blue jeans, a black sweater, no hat and no watch. He was polite but not too polite; he was forgotten right after the conversation. The only thing he persisted on was that his car was white.

White cars are the most common around, so he would be even more unrecognizable like that.

No one would pay attention to a random bloke driving a random white car. And that was his goal. No attention.

“And now?” Leo asked him.

Remus took a sip from his tea, trying to get rid of his tiredness with the caffeine.

“Now we wait for something to happen, for Sirius to appear. And then we’ll see.”

They sat in silence for a good while. 

The street came to life slowly. The first people showing up, taking their dogs for a walk and buying breakfast at the close bakery. Some were already outside for a run.

Remus had never understood the urge of going for a run, let alone early in the morning. He did go for a run once in a while, to keep himself fit and healthy, but he wasn’t addicted to it like some people were. He did it because it was essential for his job to be in shape, not because he actually enjoyed it.

The Black’s mansion got busy shortly after.

“Okay, now just watch who’s leaving the house. Write it down: Who left the house when, who’s arriving when. Give a short description of what they look like, so we recognize them again. Write it down or memorize it.”

At 7:37am Orion and Walburga Black left their house. They sat down in the shiny, black car that was parked in the parking lot. The driver sitting inside was already waiting for at least 30 minutes.

They left, probably for some state business.

It took another hour until their target finally left the house: Sirius Black.

Remus sat up straighter, his eyes not leaving Sirius. He wore dark jeans and a white button down, no tie. His hair was longer now than the last time he’d seen him. It reached just past his shoulders. His face didn’t show any kind of emotion, it was set in stone.

He was followed by another guy in a suit with dark and messy hair, probably his bodyguard. They headed for a car.

Remus stretched his back a bit.

“Here we go.” he said and turned the engine on.

**Finn**

“Can you believe this? We’re going to eliminate a Black! A Black!” Logan said excitedly as they entered their flat.

Finn felt Logan's hands on his shoulder, then he was shaken gently.

“Regulus Black, Fish! Dumbledore trusts in our abilities so much that he gives us this job!”

Finn laughed. He looked into Logan’s perfect green eyes. His heartbeat quickened because of the touch and the proximity. He could kiss him,if he just moved a little more forward, but instead he took a deep breath and stepped away a little bit from his best friend.

“Okay, yeah Lo, I’m just as excited as you are about this, but calm down okay?” Finn said but couldn’t quite suppress his grin.

It was a big deal. No, not big. It was huge.

They had other jobs before, of course, but they’ve been smaller, not so important for all of them. Observing Umbridge, trying to find out what she was up to next, for example. Sure, it was important, but it didn’t have the same impact on the country as eliminating a black did.

“Who do you think has the older brother?” Logan asked and sat down on the couch in their living room.

There was a short silence, then:

“Lupin.” they said at once, not one ounce of uncertainty in their voices.

Finn sat down next to him.

“Okay, I’m going to make us coffee & then we’ll have a lot of work to do before we can actually start this.” he said, leaning back and looking at Logan’s profile.

He had a crush on him since… well, forever. Finn couldn’t quite remember a time he wasn’t longing for him. They lived together for two years now. It had made sense then: They were working a lot together, being a perfect team. They did spend every minute together, so why not save some money and share a flat? Finn hadn’t thought about the fact that this meant no Logan-free space anywhere, which wasn’t exactly helping him, considering the fact that he was in love with a boy he couldn’t have.

“Ouais. Okay.”

Finn got up and went into the kitchen to make coffee. He poured some milk into his cup and an incredibly unhealthy amount of sugar into Logan’s. How could he drink this stuff? It’s a crime to still call that coffee.

He went back into the living room, placed the cups on the table and sat down on the floor across from Logan, who’s still sitting on the couch.

“Thanks.” he said and reached for his cup, took a sip of his coffee and then they started working.

“I think this actually sounds like a good plan. He isn’t that close to his brother, is he?” Finn asked.

He stared at the paperwork in front of him. He was still sitting on the floor. They were working for a couple of hours now, collecting everything they knew, comparing it with what Dumbledore had given them and writing down everything they still needed to know and what they planned on doing. 

Finn looked up as he didn’t get any answer from Logan, only to see that he’d fallen asleep on the couch. Finn had to smile at that sight, so the sugar and caffeine high finally had worn off.

He stood up, took the light blanket from the couch and covered Logan with it.

“Good night, Lo.” he whispered and brushed his hand gently through Logan’s brown curls.

**Sirius**

This day never ended, at least that’s what it felt like for Sirius. The business meetings lasted forever and there wasn’t any free time between the last meeting and the dinner.

All Sirius did now was rush home, change into something his mother might approve more than his choice of clothing this morning and say goodbye to James.

“Take care. Don’t do anything stupid.” James pleaded.

Sirius snorted.

“Yeah. Because I do stupid things on purpose.”

“You do. Sometimes.”

James hugged him quickly.

“I’ll be back tomorrow morning. See you.”

“Tell Lily and little Harry I said Hi.” Sirius called after James.

Sirius hated dinners like this. Actually, he hated every activity that included his family, but those business dinners were the worst. They talked endlessly over state issues, how to regulate this better, how to get the most out of that. Sirius really wasn’t interested in it, but he had to have an opinion on every topic as the heir and of course his opinion had to be the same as his parents’. If he had another opinion, his parents would make him change his mind, so he was better off lying; he told them what they wanted to hear, despite the fact it was against everything he believed in.

“Have you ever thought about giving them something back? Like a tax return? Or lowering the taxes in general?” Sirius said against better knowledge.

That simple statement earned him furious glances from his parents, confused looking guests and a kick in the shin from his brother.

He threw an angry look at Regulus, before looking back at his parents.

“You must be kidding, my dear son. Who would ever think of something like that?” his mother said sweetly, but Sirius didn’t miss the threat directed at him.

“Of course I am joking, mother. Of course I am.” he laughed in the most charming way, but he suddenly felt really sick inside.

An hour later he was back in his room. He tried to undo his tie with shaking hands and after several attempts it finally was off and he threw it in the corner of his room. 

Why? Why was he the goddamn heir? He couldn’t do this! He wasn’t like them. He didn’t want to be like them!

Sirius moved his hand through his hair several times, a gesture he got used to doing when he was nervous and tense, which he was more often than not around his family.

There was a sharp knock on his door and Sirius froze mid-movement.

Oh no. This had to be his mother or his father, maybe both.

“Just a sec.” he said, his voice a little shaky.

He hated it, he couldn’t even control his damn voice, then how was he supposed to control a whole fucking country.

After he took several deep breaths, Sirius went to the door and opened it, preparing to brace himself against the angry faces of his parents, but it was Regulus he found outside his room. With a plate full of food.

“You ate almost nothing at dinner, thought you might be hungry.” he said and walked past Sirius, who let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

He closed the door behind him and followed Regulus to his bed. The both boys sat down and Sirius started eating. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was.

“Thanks, Reggie."


	3. Chapter 3

**Remus**

It’s been a week since Remus and Leo started tailing Sirius. His life seemed pretty organized: He left the house around 9am, always followed by James Potter, his bodyguard. Then Sirius went to different meetings, each one lasted between one and three hours, after that he would drive back to the Black’s mansion and stay there for the rest of the day.

Today was different.

They had been following him all day. Nothing special had happened, and at night Remus wanted to drive back to his apartment already, when the main door opened again. Sirius and James stepped outside. 

Remus and Leo followed them to a nightclub.

“Okay, come with me.” Remus said and stepped out of his car. 

They went inside together and Remus looked around. The place was crowded. It would be easy to lose sight of their target here, but at least the possibility of being spotted was low. At least that’s what he’d thought.

“Can you see him?” Leo asked him.

He had to come close to Remus' ear, so he could hear him over the loud music.

Remus looked around, then shook his head.

“Let’s go up there, so we have a better view.” he said and led the way up the stairs.

It wasn’t hard to spot Sirius then: He was surrounded by people, all of them curious about the Black’s heir, but also too shy and intimidated to actually come too close to him. It was like he was a magnet, pulling people closer and pushing them away at the same time.

Remus looked at Leo, who had already seen Sirius.

“He’s the center of attention. Do you think he’s enjoying it?” Leo asked curiously.

Remus shrugged.

“Don’t know. Don’t care. Hey, would you get us something to drink? We’re way less suspicious with drinks in our hands.”

“Oui. Sure.” Leo nodded and went to the bar.

Remus watched him, then he glanced back at Sirius.

He was dressed more casual than Remus had seen him all week. He wore blue jeans, a Pink Floyd Band shirt, and a black leather jacket over it. And he looked good in it, Remus had to admit. Damn it. No. Don’t think about him like that, it’s just a damn job.

He talked to some girl, but it was too dark in here for Remus to see their lips, so he couldn’t tell what they were talking about. He could do lip reading, he wasn’t perfect at it, but it came in quite handy sometimes to know what someone was talking about roughly.

But from the girl's laughs, her hand on his arm and how she tried to come closer to him, Remus assumed they were flirting.

Leo came back a moment later, two drinks in his hands. He gave Remus one, then looked back at Black.

“Everyone’s talking about him downstairs. Seems like he comes here every Friday, the barkeeper told me.”

Remus smiled at him. That was useful information the blonde just told him there.

“Good job.”

“Merci.” Leo said, smiling to himself.

The boy learned fast. He took in every piece of information Remus gave him and tried to put it into practice immediately. And it worked.

Remus still wasn’t happy to have a partner for this mission, but Leo was nice company to have and he was good at what he did, so at least Remus didn’t have to worry about failing this job.

He looked at James Potter, Sirius’ bodyguard. He was leaning on the bar, watching Sirius with an amused smile on his face. Remus found out he’d been Sirius’ bodyguard for a couple of years now. He had a wife, Lily Potter, and a 3-year-old son, Harry.

“I think they’re friends. James and Sirius.” Leo had said one day.

Remus had asked him what made him think so.

Leo shrugged.

“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling, I guess.”

And now Remus got the same feeling: He wouldn’t watch him with the same… happiness, if it were only a job. The two were friends.

Sirius took the girls’ hand, and the two started dancing in the middle of the dance floor. He was twirling her around, making her laugh, and everyone made room for them to dance. He knew how to move, that much was clear.

Remus kept watching him, his body language and his facial expression, as far as possible through the darkness. He seemed to be relaxed but still watchful, somehow reserved, like he couldn’t fully enjoy the intimacy.

Remus had this weird feeling in his stomach he couldn’t quite place. The next moment Sirius’ eyes landed on him. He looked him directly in the eyes. Remus heartbeat accelerated.

Shit.

He put his drink away and placed a hand on Leo’s arm.

“Let’s go. that’s enough for today.” he said and started moving through the people to the exit.

“Wait, shouldn’t we-” Leo started, but Remus interrupted him.

“I said, let’s go.”

He brought Leo home. They were both very quiet the whole way.

“Something’s wrong.” Leo stated finally, “He did see you.”

Remus sighed and turned the engine off, parking in front of Leo’s place. That kid was just too smart and observant.

“No, he didn’t. It’s not possible. There were hundreds of people. He could have looked at anyone.”

Remus knew it was a lie. He knew Sirius had looked at him and just at him.

He glanced at Leo for a second, then his eyes went back to the street. 

“Don’t worry. Everything’s fine. We just better keep a low profile. It was time for us to go.”

Leo nodded, still not fully convinced.

“Bonne nuit.” he said before he left the car.

Remus watched him enter the building, then started the car again. He took a deep breath. Everything was alright, there’s nothing endangering this mission.

**Sirius**

Sirius yawned. Shit. He shouldn’t have done that. His mother threw an angry glance at him.

“Do we bore you, son?” she asked him with an alarming tone in her voice.

Sirius sat up straighter and shook his head.

“No. Of course not. I’m just a bit exhausted, that’s all. I am sorry.” he swallowed.

He was sitting here for three hours now, his parents discussing some issue he didn’t really care about. Truth be told: He was bored immensely.

“Then I suggest you’re staying at home tonight and not going out like usual, if you’re so exhausted.” she said.

“No. I am good. I’m sorry.”

He was going out today, like he did every Friday. It was the only fun thing he did all week and there was nothing holding him back from it, not even his mother. She had forbidden it before, but Sirius just sneaked off, with James of course. He wouldn’t do anything without James. It would be just half the fun. 

So Sirius tried really hard to pay attention to his parents’ conversation and after another half an hour he finally was released.

“I’ll see you at dinner.” was all he said before he left.

He walked out of the room, followed by James immediately.

“You’re still alive.” James said, smirking.

“It’s a wonder, honestly. I almost died out of sheer boredom.”

“Oh, I bet.”

They drove home together, talking about nothing special. Lily wanted to spend the weekend with Harry at her parents’, but James couldn’t get the days off, so the mood at the Potter's house was rough right now.

“I told her to go without me, but she didn’t want to do that either. So now she’s angry at me. She says she isn’t, but… If looks could kill, I’m telling you.”

“I’m sorry. I’m talking to my parents, okay? Tell her you can go next weekend. I’ll arrange it.” Sirius felt bad for James. He didn’t spend enough time with his own family because of his job. His parents demanded that James was around all the time.

James nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.

“How is Harry?” Sirius asked to change the subject.

James' face lit up instantly.

“Oh, he’s growing so fast. You have to see him again, he asked for you actually just yesterday. He is missing you.”

Sirius smiled. He didn’t see Harry as often as he wished, but every minute they spent together was full of joy and laughter. This child was a real gem and Sirius enjoyed every moment with him.

“I will try to visit you soon. Promise.”

After a never ending dinner with his parents, Sirius was finally back in his room. He was staring at his wardrobe, thinking of what to wear tonight. He was happy to wear something other than button-down shirts. His mother always insisted on those. He picked out his favorite shirt; it was a Pink Floyd band shirt, and he loved it. He loved the music, the aesthetics and the fact that it’ll piss his mother off. He took his black leather jacket. It was buried in the depth of his wardrobe, so his parents didn’t find it. They didn’t approve of things like this, but he didn’t care. Tonight he was going to be himself and not the fucking heir. Fuck his parents. Fuck the consequences.

He slipped into the jacket and checked his appearance in the mirror. Yup, this will do.

Together with James, he drove to their favorite nightclub. The night was still young, but the club was already crowded, as always.

“Okay, let’s get us some drinks,” Sirius said.

“Can’t drink, I’m working, Pads.” James responded.

Sirius sighed.

“Well then, I’ll get me some drinks.” he shrugged and went to the bar.

They made their way through the crowd; which wasn’t hard considering that the people around them made space for him. He ordered a Gin and Tonic, then just watched. He enjoyed being around people when he could be himself and not the version his parents wanted to make of him.

He stood next to James, who scanned the crowd quickly for threats, but he seemed quite relaxed.

“that girl? he nodded in her direction, “she’s coming over in at least 3 minutes.”

“You wanna bet?” Sirius raised an eyebrow, mischief showing in his eyes.

James nodded.

“Sure. I’m winning anyway. So lunch tomorrow?” 

James held out his hand, and Sirius took it.

“You’re always so sure.”

“Because I’m usually right.”

A minute later the girl James had said walked over to him. She was good looking: dark short cut hair, a nose piercing and a cute smile.

“Hi.” she said “You’re Sirius, aren’t you?”

“That I am. And who are you?”

“I’m Amber.” she smiled at him.

Sirius glanced at James, who had a huge grin on his face.

“Told you so” he mouthed.

Sirius grinned and turned back to her.

“You know, I owe my friend over there lunch now, because of you.” he said bluntly.

She leaned her head to the side, eyes looking curious.

“Because of me? Why?”

“He said, you’d come over to talk to me any minute. And you did.”

Amber started laughing.

“Well, when there’s a celebrity showing up, you have to talk to him, don’t you agree?” she placed her hand on his arm.

Sirius laughed.

“I’m not a celebrity at all, but thanks. And yeah. I do agree on that. Do you want to dance?”

She nodded and took his hand, dragging him onto the dance floor.

Sirius closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the music, letting it rush through him. Then they started dancing. It was easy with her, natural. She knew how to dance and he liked dancing with her. It was just… He was looking for something else tonight. Someone else. He danced with her for a long time nevertheless. It was fun and fun was what he wanted.

Sirius pulled Amber close again, his eyes drifting away from her up to the people standing upstairs. Something caught his eye, no, someone. A man standing there and watching him. Sirius made a turn with amber and when he looked back up the man was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check warnings at the end!!

_Remus_

It was the middle of the night, the full moon was shining bright, everyone in the city fast asleep. Except for Remus.

He was lying in his bed, rolling from one side to the other, unable to find sleep. Grey eyes haunting him. His mind just wouldn't shut up. No, instead a thousand thoughts kept him awake. 

Remus rolled back on his back and sighed, finally giving in. 

His thoughts wandered back to the moment in the nightclub, where Sirius' eyes landed on him. Remus knew he'd seen him, he just didn't know how. There were so many people standing around them, he wasn't eye catching, he really wasn't. That's what made him so good for his job.

Okay, so things needed to move on now, he and Leo needed to make progress. He couldn't sleep, so he as well can start thinking of a plan on how to get close enough to Sirius to actually eliminate him. 

Remus knew his routines by now and killing him when he's outside in the city, running errands, was out of question. He wasn't alone then, James Potter never leaving his side. Their best chance was to get to him when he was home and alone. Well, as alone as someone can be in such a big house with so many employees. Remus would need the layout of the Blacks mansion, the blueprints. He was sure he could get them somehow. He would call Moody first thing tomorrow morning for that. He owed Remus something, and he had a lot of connections to the right people.

Remus wouldn't take Leo with him for this part of the job. It was easier for one person alone to break into the house, kill the heir, and come back out. Unnoticed. Less risky. Remus would be fine, he was pretty skilled with a knife. He didn't use a gun if he could avoid it. Killing someone with a knife was silent and very effective if you knew how to use it and Remus definitely knew. It wasn't his first time and it won't be his last. The only difficulty was that he had to come pretty close to his victim with that method, which could end in a fight, so Remus had to prepare himself mentally for that. To go through things that could happen in your mind all over again and again is a good way to prepare yourself for the actual situation, it wouldn't throw you off guard then and you won't just stop in panic and don't know what to do, so Remus needed to think of everything that could go wrong and think about how to handle it. He woulddo that when he had the blueprints and an actual plan on how to get in and out.

A fight with Sirius wouldn't be too bad, Remus still had surprise on his side, which was enough most of the time. But even if Sirius would recover fast enough, he still wasn't a problem for Remus. For all Remus had seen over the last week, Sirius didn't seem to be very muscle-bound. He was rather slim, but Remus knew to never underestimate your target. He had made that mistake once. 

He rubbed over a scar on his arm absentmindedly as he thought of it.

Remus didn't know what Sirius was like. He was very guarded wherever he had seen him, even when he was dancing with that girl in the club. He seemed to have fun, but something was off, Remus could feel it. Like in the club, he got this weird feeling in his stomach again, he really didn't like it. He didn't know what it meant, but it couldn't be good, so he tried to ignore it, like he ignored most of the things he didn't want to think about: His family, his nightmares, his life outside of his job.

His thoughts wandered back to Sirius, to his forearms, his shoulders, his eyes… and Remus finally surrendered to sleep while thinking of his lips.

“Do I want to know what you need those blueprints for, kid?” Moody asked.

Remus had called him the next morning to tell him what he needed and a couple of hours later, Moody had called him back.

“It's better if you don't. Trust me.”

“Okay then. I'll bring them over to yours tonight.”

“Thanks.” Remus said and hung up.

Leo looked at him curiously, Remus hadn’t told him about the next steps yet. They were sitting in a small cafe, mugs with coffee in front of them. Sirius Black was just a couple of meters away, on the other side of the street, sitting on the porch of a fancy restaurant with his brother. Leo and Remus had a clear view of them from their place in the cafe, but they were surrounded by a lot of plants, which made it harder for them to be seen.

“We need to plan our next steps. I called a friend to…” Remus started but trailed off. 

“Oh, damn it. Is he serious?” Remus said angrily when his look fell on a brown-haired boy in a bright red T-shirt and a snapback on his head. He was sitting on a bench, alone, and talking without a phone in his hand. People were already staring at him. 

God damn it, Tremblay.

“What is it?” Leo asked him.

Remus sighed.

“You know someone is watching the other brother, right? So now have a good look around us and tell me what's wrong here.”

Leo did as he was told, and it didn't even take him a full minute to see what Remus meant.

“The guy on the bench.” he stated and Remus nodded.

He kept watching Logan; they were quite close, so Remus tooka good look at his mouth.

“He's talking to Finn, his partner. Over an earpiece, I'd say.” 

He shook his head, pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Logan’s number. Logan picked up just a moment later.

“Lupin? Whats up?” Remus heard him say.

“Get the fuck off of the bench, Tremblay. Now.” Remus almost growled.

“What -” Logan started looking around, but he had no chance to see them.

“Go home. Now. I'll meet you and O'Hara there in an hour.”

“But-”

“Now.”

Logan hung up, looked around one more time, then got up and walked away.

_Finn_

“So, Lupin’s coming over now and then what?” Finn asked as he and Logan left the coffee shop close to their apartment. They ran out of coffee earlier that day, and he really needed a strong one now. A visit from Remus? Finn didn't think it was just out of politeness.

Logan shrugged.

“Don't know. He wants to talk, I guess?”

Finn looked at him. Logan was biting his lip, a thing he did when he was nervous.

“Don't worry, Tremz. It'll be fine, okay?”

“Ouais. Sure. Yeah.” he said, not convinced at all.

They took the next corner to their flat, when Logan stopped in his tracks and Finn, who was walking slightly behind him, bumped right into him. Spilling his hot coffee all over himself.

“What the fuck, Lo?!” Finn said angrily, then looked up to see who was standing in front of their door.

Remus and… A boy he hadn't seen before. Finn took a closer look at the unknown and… Oh. He totally understood Logan's sudden stop now, not that Logan would stop for a guy though, he probably was just surprised that Remus was already here. But the other one looked gorgeous: tall, blonde, friendly blue eyes…

Finn shoved Logan's shoulder.

“Come on… Let's get over with this. And you owe me a coffee now.” Finn said with a quick look at his coffee drenched shirt.

“You can have mine.” Logan mumbled and Finn laughed.

“Thanks, but no. Ugh.”

Finn drained his cup, and they walked to Remus and the blonde one. Remus nodded at them briefly, as Logan let them all in.

Finn closed the door behind them, then followed the others into the living room.

“Hi.” Finn said, not knowing what else to say.

His eyes wandered back to the other one who was looking back and forth between him and Logan, curiously.

“Hi. Im Leo Knut. Nice to meet you” he introduced himself with a cute southern accent. Finn's heart melted immediately.

He cleared his throat.

“Nice to meet you, Leo. Im Finn and this is Logan.” he said and gestured to Logan, who only nodded politely.

“So, what's up, Lupin?” Finn then said and looked at him.

Oh no. Remus seemed to be angry. 

“What did you two think today? Tremblay was sitting in plain view for everyone! Talking to himself like a maniac!”

“I wasn't talking to myself!” Logan tried to defend himself, and Finn wished he wouldn't have said that.

Remus shot him an angry look.

“Oh yeah, I know that! But no one else knew you were wearing an earpiece. So yeah, you were looking like a maniac and everyone was staring at you. I'm pretty sure the Black brothers noticed you as well! What the hell were you thinking?”

Finn swallowed hard.

“They didn't notice him. I'm sure of that, they were very occupied with their conversation.” he said.

Remus shook his head.

“I hope you're right, O Hara. Otherwise you're putting the entire mission at risk.”

“There weren't many options for where I could be sitting and still have a good view of them!.” Logan defended them, well he tried.

Remus looked at Leo, then said:

“Do you want to tell them some other options, than a bench in clear view for everyone?”

Leo was silent for a moment, thinking apparently.

“Well, first there was the cafe, where we were sitting. We had a good view, but the plants all around kept them from seeing us. Then there was a bookshop you could have gone inside. It was right on the corner. And there was a traffic mirror hanging around, with the right angle you could have used it to look at the restaurant.”

Lupin looked at Leo and smiled.

“See? And he does this job for a bit over a week now, boys. You should've known better.”

Finn looked at Leo, who blushed, but smiled nevertheless. Oh, he had dimples when he smiled! Finn couldn't help but smile at the sight.

“Damn it. I didn’t notice all those things… Sorry... “ Logan said meekly. 

He looked at the floor, angry at himself.

Remus sighed.

“Just… be more careful, you two. You know what's at stake.”

They both nodded.

“Sorry. We'll be more careful. Won't happen again…” Finn said “Do you want something to drink, maybe?”

“No, but thanks. We still have a lot to do. We have to go now.” Remus said and headed for the door.

Leo smiled at them, the dimples appearing on his face again.

“See you.” he said and then followed Remus.

“Yeah. See you.” Soon, Finn hoped.

Oh, he was doomed.

_Sirius_

The week was pretty eventless. There weren't many meetings to attend for him, which he was glad for. He had lunch with James and Sirius had paid, as promised, after losing their bet. It was nice to spend time with him, James was his best friend after all. It sounded weird that his bodyguard was his best friend, but Sirius was lucky to have him. James was smart, funny, and he understood him. Sirius told him everything, absolutely everything.

He also had lunch with his brother the other day. It was a nice, sunny day, and he enjoyed it until Regulus mentioned the family dinner the next day. Family dinner meant not only having dinner with his parents, but also with his cousins. Sirius really couldn't stand his family, except for Reggie. Most of the time he loved his little brother, when he wasn't acting like a younger version of their father.

But even the family dinner went over without any incident, which was a quite rare occurence.

So on Friday evening during dinner he was in a good mood, looking forward to his night out at the club. After the table was cleaned from their empty plates Sirius stood up, but his mother looked at him, smiled and said:

“Sirius, darling, please sit down again. Regulus you can go.”

Sirius swallowed hard and sat down again, looking at his brother, who shot him a worried look. It never ended well when she wanted to talk to him alone.

His mother got up and came closer, too close for Sirius' liking.

“You know what you did?” she asked.

He just shook his head. He really had no clue what he'd done wrong this time.

“Liar.” she said simply, and the next moment her hand hit his cheek.

Sirius couldn't help it as the tears stung his eyes. He looked at his hands in his lap so his mother couldn't see them.

“The girl in this club of yours.” she helped him to remember.

Her hand found his cheek again, Sirius felt her ring hard against his skin, cutting it open.

He swallowed hard. The girl seemed nice. They had talked for a while, dancing, drinking together. Sirius really didn't know what the problem was and how his mother found out.

“She's a reporter and wrote an article with the information you gave her so willingly.”

“I didn't know…” Sirius whispered and made the mistake of looking up into his mother's angry face. Her eyes didn't show any mercy or understanding for her son.

And with every touch of her hand, Sirius' hatred grew. He hated his mother, his life and, most of all, himself.

There was a knock on his bedroom door, and he got up from his bed to open it. James was standing in front of it. He took in a sharp breath as he looked at Sirius' face.

“Ah… Sorry, I forgot about you.” Sirius said and let him in.

“I guess you don't want to go out tonight?” James said softly.

Sirius shook his head.

“No. Not really. Sorry. I should've told you sooner. You could be home by now.”

Sirius didn't meet his eyes. He hated that James saw him like that, all beaten up and feeling so small. James pulled him in for a hug, carefully so Sirius could move away, but honestly Sirius needed a gentle gesture after that, so he let James hold him.

“Don't be sorry. Really. You did nothing wrong, trust me.”

Sirius laughed a little, it sounded forced as Sirius tried to hold back his tears.

“She was a reporter. The girl in the club. She just used me and I didn’t notice.”

James moved away a bit to look at him.

“She was? Damn, I'm sorry. I should've known. That's my fault…”

Sirius shook his head.

“No. It's fine. Go home to Lily and Harry. Enjoy your early quitting time, okay? I'll see you tomorrow.”

“You sure you don't want me to stay?” James asked worriedly.

Sirius nodded with an almost invisible smile.

“Go home. Im okay, don't worry. I'll just need some sleep now, that's all.” he didn't even sound convincing to himself, but James got the message. Sirius wanted to be alone now, so he left.

Sirius looked into the mirror. His reflection looked horrible, his cheek was already bruising and his lower lip was split open.

He hung his jacket over the mirror so he didn't have to look at himself again. He was ridiculous, a joke.

Sirius didn't even try to sleep that night, he knew it was no good. He either wouldn't find sleep or he'd have a nightmare, so he just stayed awake and stared out of the window, lost in his thoughts.

That's why he didn't hear the quiet crack his bedroom door made as it was opened and someone entered. He didn't hear the steps coming up his way. He heard someone inhale behind him, but it was too late for him to react as he got slammed into the wall, a knife at his throat, facing a stranger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW child abuse; physical assault


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check notes at the end for TW

**Sirius**

Sirius looked right into the face of a stranger. A knife at his throat. His heart was beating fast, he could hear it in his ears, every beat unmistakable. His whole body was tense, every hair standing up in anticipation.

He swallowed hard and felt the pressure of the knife even more, as his Adam's apple moved under it.

His mind raced and was silent at the same time. He had no idea what to do, how to react, so he didn't move at all. He was just standing here and staring at the person holding the knife.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again without a word.

“Stay quiet.” the unknown whispered.

He sounded threatening nevertheless, so Sirius did as he was told.

“You're going to die. I'm here to kill you. You understand that?”

Sirius nodded, just the tiniest bit, but the intruder understood.

“Anything you have to say?”

Sirius looked into his amber eyes, beautiful eyes. If those were the last thing he would see, death wouldn't be too bad. It could be worse. They could have been his mother’s.

And that was the moment when his mind came to a conclusion: This was his exit strategy, his way out of his damn life, and no one could blame him because it wasn't his fault. You can't blame someone for getting killed, can you? His parents probably would, but it wouldn't be his problem anymore. So Sirius nodded again.

“Go ahead then. But if you make any loud sounds, you'll drop dead within a minute.” Amber Eyes said.

Sirius swallowed again, then opened his mouth.

“Thank you.” was all he said.

Amber Eyes furrowed his brows. He looked confused.

“You're thanking me? For what? For killing you?”

And Sirius nodded again.

The other one just stared at him, Sirius didn't know what he was thinking. They were standing like that for a while and he couldn't tell how long it was. It could have been two minutes or an hour, time was an intangible concept at the moment. What he could see was that the intruder was quarrelling with himself. He finally let the knife sink a centimeter and stared Sirius in the eyes. He looked furious and intimidating.

“We're going to talk now. If you make any attempts at getting away or trying to get help, just remember: I am taller, I am faster and I am stronger than you. And I am the one with the weapon.”

Sirius felt a hand around his arm and he was maneuvered to his bed.

“Sit down.”

So Sirius sat down. Amber Eyes looked him up and down.

“You didn't have that bruise when you came back here this afternoon, so it must have happened here. You had a fight with your brother?”

Sirius bit his lip and touched his cheek slightly and winced at the pain and the memory. He had watched him? Well… He should have guessed , you don't just walk in and kill someone.

He shook his head, just once.

“Who was it then?”

Sirius got angry. That was none of his business. 

“Why do you even ask? You are here to kill me, aren't you? You don’t exactly care about my life.”

Amber Eyes shot him an angry look, but Sirius just stared back at him. This wasn't his goddamn business.

“Tell me. I have to know.”

There was a long silence, both of them staring at the other one, trying to figure out what the other was thinking.

“My lovely mother.” he spat out finally.

The other one started walking up and down in front of Sirius, not leaving him out of sight. He didn't say anything for a while.

What the hell was this? What was happening right now? Is this how assassinations usually work?

“How do you feel about your parents?” he broke the silence again.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh. He really had to ask that?

“I hate them. With my whole heart.” he said dryly.

“Why?”

Really?

“Isn't it obvious? They are bad people. They are treating everyone like shit, including their sons. They are not good leaders. They…” Sirius stopped. He was getting himself into a rage, and he really didn't want to do that right now. 

“Would you be a better leader?”

Sirius shook his head.

“Not as long as my mother is around. I don't even want to be a leader. I don't want to.”

Amber Eyes nodded shortly and started walking up and down again, then sighed.

“Okay, listen to me now: We're making a deal. You and me. I'm not going to kill you, you don't have to do what your parents want and we get rid of them as the leaders of the country. You just have to trust me.”

“You want me to trust you?”

He nodded.

“Tell me your name first. Your real name.” Sirius said.

He hesitated for a moment, then said:

“Remus.”

Sirius was lying awake long after Amber Eyes had left. He knew his name now. Remus. They had talked for a long while. Remus had told him what the plan actually was: To get rid of the heir, so there was no one left next in line of power and to hurt his parents with his death. Sirius laughed mirthlessly. Something had made Remus change his mind though, but Sirius still didn't know what, it must have been something he'd said.

Remus said he would be in touch next week. Sirius had asked him how he wanted to do that and he had just smiled at him and said:

“Don't worry. I have my ways.”

He had left afterwards.

Sirius was shaking. The whole day was almost too much to bear, but with one last thought the exhaustion overwhelmed him and sleep took over:

What a fucked up day.

**Remus**

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This didn't go like planned at all.

Remus stepped into the car two streets away, where Leo was waiting for him. The blonde one looked nervous, and Remus couldn't blame him. It had taken him way longer to get in and out of the Blacks mansion than he had expected.

“You okay?” Leo asked.

Remus shook his head.

“What happened?”

“Not now, lets go.” he instructed Leo, who started the engine immediately.

Remus moved a hand through his hair. Fuck.

He'd said thank you. He wanted Remus to kill him. That was the moment where everything went south.

His victims always tried to talk him out of killing them, some of them begged for their lives, some cried and others fought him, but no one had ever thanked him for it. Sirius was desperate for him to take his life. That was the moment Remus knew he couldn't do it, that he wouldn't do it. Sirius wasn't a bad person, he wasn't like his parents. Remus had seen it in his eyes. The pain and the hatred as he talked about his parents and how they ruled the country wasn't just a show he put on so Remus would have pity on him and maybe not kill him. No. It was honest, it was what he truly felt and believed.

Remus closed his eyes for a moment. He had to find a new plan now, one that doesn't include a dead heir, and he had to think about one fast, because the end of the month was close, so Dumbledore is expecting him to be done soon.

Fucking Black. 

He was supposed to be a spoiled brat who did not give a damn about anyone else but himself. This wouldn't have made killing him any more right, but it would have been much easier.

He felt Leo's eyes on him.

“Im not hurt. Eyes back on the street, we have to get to my flat. There are new circumstances we have to talk about and make a new plan. I hope you're up for a long night.”

They parked the car in front of Remus' flat and got inside. Remus walked into the kitchen and started to make coffee for them.

“You need to eat. You haven't eaten all day.” Leo said, concerned “Do you mind if I make us some sandwiches?”

Remus shook his head.

“No. Please, help yourself.”

He took two mugs out of the cupboard and filled them with fresh coffee as he watched Leo looking through his fridge and the cupboards. He placed a pan on the stove and started to make grilled cheese sandwiches, and Remus' kitchen was filled with an incredible smell soon. He hadn't realized how hungry he actually was.

They both sat down on the kitchen table as Leo finished cooking and ate in silence for a while. Leo was still watching him cautiously.

“This tastes really good, Leo. Thanks for cooking.” Remus smiled at him.

Leo smiled back at him and shrugged.

“I like cooking. And I always find it easier to think when I'm not hungry, so I thought I should give it a shot.”

Remus nodded and took another bite.

“What happened in the mansion, Remus?” Leo asked.

Remus sighed and put his sandwich away.

“Well, Sirius Black is pretty much alive, knows who I am and what we had planned.”

Leo stared at him with confusion.

“That's not supposed to happen, is it?”

“No.”

“Why didn't you do it?” he asked carefully.

“It was just… wrong.” Remus said and then started laughing.

“I know this sounds ironic coming from me, but he is different. There is something special about him. I don't know, it's just… I have this feeling that we have to do thisdifferently . I know it sounds weird and stupid, but…” he shook his head.

“No, it doesn’t sound stupid. I get it actually.” Leo smiled “Let's think of another plan then.”

Remus put the plates into the sink, then took their mugs and went into the living room with Leo. He sat down on the couch, thinking.

How is he going to solve this mess? Remus sighed.

“I can't tell Dumbledore.” he said.

Leo nodded.

“Ouais. I think he wouldn't understand it.”

They drank their coffee, both of them thinking, neither saying a word.

The sun started rising when Leo had a thought.

“What about faking his death? We fake his death, then hide him so we have more time to think what to do next. And Dumbledore would think his plan had worked.”

Remus looked up into the face of the blonde and smiled.

“Leo… You're a genius. You really are.”

Leo smiled.

“Merci.”

“Okay. You go get some sleep now. I'll be in touch tomorrow. Recharge your smart brain, we'll need it later.”

  
  


**Finn**

“Bon matin.” Logan said as Finn entered the kitchen.

“French.” Finn grumbled.

Logan laughed and placed a cup of coffee into Finn's hand.

“I thought you might need some coffee after last night. You didn't sleep much, did you?”

Finn shook his head. 

He couldn't fall asleep last night, too many thoughts occupying his mind. To his usual thoughts about Logan, that kept him awake some nights, now joined some thoughts about Leo too. 

Leo Knut.

A cute name for a cute boy. Damn it, he only met him once and now couldn’t stop thinking about him, as if his love life wasn't already complicated enough.

He took a sip from his coffee.

“Sorry if I've woke you up last night.”

Logan shook his head.

“No. Dont worry. Ive just found your copy of Song of Achilles on the couch. you read it when you can't sleep or when you're trying not to think about something too much, so I thought you are rather short on sleep”

Finn looked up to meet Logan's eyes. He forgot how observant Logan was sometimes.

“Yeah… You know. Work.” Finn said simply.

Logan raised an eyebrow in question.

“Thanks for the coffee, by the way.”

“De rien. You're welcome.” Logan said.

Finn sighed.

“Okay, I'll take a quick shower and then we have to work, don't we?”

Logan nodded.

“Yup, but I can go alone if you're too tired. I don't mind.” he shrugged.

Finn smiled at him.

“I'm good, don't worry. Just keep your French at a minimum today, would you? I have absolutely no brain capacity to decipher what you might have said.”

He could still hear Logan’s laugh as he went into the bathroom.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentioning of knifes, bruises, assassination, physical assault


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check notes at the end for CW

**Remus**

Remus walked up and down in his living room. He felt Leo’s eyes on him, following every step he took

The last few days, they had spent refining their plan and by now it was a pretty decent one. Sure, there still were variables, like Sirius himself, but they couldn't do much about it. They also didn't know when they would kick it off or how everything would work out in the end, but their plan couldn't get any better.

Remus sighed and sat down next to Leo.

“I went over it again and again. It's good as it is.” he said.

Leo nodded.

“You're nervous.” he stated.

Remus bit his lip; nervous was an understatement. He was supposed to trust a Black. Someone who was part of the family, who… No. His mind wouldn't go back to his own family. Not now, he still had work to do. He needed to stay calm.

“Yeah. I am. This is just not what I thought this mission would look like, not at all. I like to have control over things and now I have to trust Sirius Black to work with me.” Remus shook his head “I don't like it. I don't like him, I guess.”

“You don't like his family. And if he really is lying, you can still kill him.”

Remus laughed a little.

“You're right.”

They sat in silence for a while, Remus still thinking about everything he and Leo had talked about the last couple of hours. Remus rotated his shoulders a little to get rid of the tension in his muscles. It didn't work.

“You're going to work with O'Hara and Tremblay afterwards.” Remus said.

The younger one turned his head to look at him, something showing in his eyes. Curiosity, joy maybe, but definitely a bit of nervousness.

“They can teach you more. Both of them are pretty good at what they are doing. Usually. And I don't know what Dumbledore wants me to do next, I guess I'll have some time off, which would be good, considering that I have a houseguest by then.”

Leo nodded, a small smile on his lips.

“Yeah, sure. I don't mind. They both seemed… nice.”

Remus looked at him, then grinned a bit.

“Sure. You'll be doing fine with them.”

He took a sip from his coffee and scrunched his nose. It was cold by now and there was nothing worse than cold coffee, he sighed.

“Okay… You have the rest of the day off, Leo. I'm going to meet Sirius tonight and tell him about the details. I don't need you for that.”

“You sure? I could wait in the car, like the last time.”

Remus shook his head.

“No. I appreciate it, but no. You get some sleep tonight.”

\---

It was the middle of the night as Remus sneaked through the Blacks mansion. He tried to not make any sound and listened very carefully if there was someone still awake who could notice him. He opened Sirius' bedroom door just a crack and slipped in. It was dark and Remus could hear Sirius soft, regular breaths. He was asleep. Well, not for very long anymore. Remus moved closer to his bed and looked at him; he was lying on his back, his mouth slightly ajar, his hair a mess around his head. He looked… calm. Remus hadn't seen him so relaxed before, he always seemed so stressed and restrained, but right now he seemed peaceful. Remus almost had a bad conscience that he would wake him up any moment. Just almost.

He touched Sirius' shoulder gently. When he didn't react, Remus shook him a bit. That did the trick. Sirius opened his eyes and almost jumped out of his bed when he noticed Remus. His hand moved up to his heart.

“Fuck you. You scared me. That's your way to get in touch with me? Scaring me to death?” Sirius said, his voice still heavy from sleeping.

Sirius sat upright, moved a hand through his hair.

“So what's up, Amber Eyes?”

That confused Remus a bit.

“Amber Eyes?” he asked.

Sirius just shrugged.

“Tell me why you're here.”

Remus sat down next to Sirius on his bed and nodded.

“Okay, so we came up with a plan, how we will handle this situation, but you have to cooperate, otherwise your death is inevitable.”

“Im fine with my death…” Sirius whispered, almost inaudible.

That and the sadness in his voice made Remus heart hurt. He swallowed.

“Well, we're going to fake your death, everyone is going to think you're dead. That'll work for my purposes. And until everything is solved, and we got rid of your parents, you're going to stay at my place. You can't stay at a hotel, people would recognize you.”

Remus looked at Sirius, who remained silent.

“I'll need your blood to prepare the crime scene. It has to be a lot of blood, so it'll be plausible. You'll feel dizzy for a while, but you'll survive. After that I'll bring you to my place and then we have to wait.”

Sirius still didn't say a word, he just looked at Remus with a look he didn't quite understand.

“I have to tell James and my brother.” Sirius then said.

Remus shook his head.

“No. You can't tell anyone. I'm sorry, but I don’t think your brother would lie to your parents about it, I think he couldn't do it.”

“I still have to tell James, though. He is about to lose his job, he has a wife and a child, he needs to know. Also, he is my best friend, he will blame himself for it, he'll think it was his fault. That'll destroy him. I can't let that happen. You want me to work with you? Then let me tell my best friend.” he sounded determined.

Remus sighed.

“You think you can trust him? He's loyal to you, not your parents? He won't sell us out?”

“No.” Sirius laughed a little “He will be happy to know I’m out of my parents' reach, to be honest. I do trust him.”

“Okay, I'll be back on Wednesday. Try to act unsuspicious until then. Oh, and you can't take anything with you… No clothes, no phone, nothing. Otherwise it would look like you had run away.”

Sirius nodded a little.

“Okay…”

Remus got up and looked at him.

“I'll see you on Wednesday then. Don't do anything stupid, Im still watching you, remember that.”

Then he silently made his way out of the house.

**Sirius**

He couldn't fall asleep that night again, too many thoughts occupying his mind.

“You look tired.” James said.

They were on their way to a meeting early in the morning.

“Can we talk later?” Sirius asked him.

James looked at him worriedly.

“ sure. Whenever you want to talk, I'm here. You know that.”

Sirius sighed and nodded. He had three days. Three days he had to act normal, though everything was far from normal.. So he acted normal, he attended the meetings of the day; he said his opinion on topics where no one actually cared what he thought. He ignored the angry looks from his parents. Perfectly normal.

Back home he went to his bedroom with James, who sat down on his bed. Sirius preferred to stay in the moment. He looked at James, who was waiting patiently until he found the courage to say what was on his mind all day. Sirius was sure he had already noticed the nervousness, James knew him better than anyone else.

Sirius sighed.

“Okay, you won't like what I'm telling you now, but promise me you'll listen first.”

James raised an eyebrow, looking confused.

“Okay? I promise, go on then.”

Sirius looked at his hands, fiddling them. He swallowed before he started speaking again.

“So a couple of days ago, this guy broke into my bedroom. He actually came to kill me. He had a knife and everything…” his hand moved up to his throat as he remembered.

Shock showed on James’s face as the realization sank in. He opened his mouth to say something but Sirius lifted his hand before he could start.

“Nothing happened, obviously. I'm good, don't worry. I don't know what made him change his mind, though. He came back yesterday with a plan and you won't like that either: We're going to fake my death and I'm going to hide somewhere, I don't know where yet. And I'm telling you this, so you don't blame yourself for it. this is going to be hell for you. My parents will investigate against you, obviously. You'll get fired, you have to find a new job, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, James…” he swallowed again.

James got up the moment he had finished talking.

“No. That's not going to happen. I won't let that happen. This shouldn't have happened in the first place!” he moved a hand through his hair in frustration.

“James, that's nothing to discuss. It is going to happen, even if you're not okay with it. I just wanted to let you know beforehand.”

James shook his head vigorously.

“It's my chance to get away from my parents, to get out of this hell of a life.” Sirius tried to argue, “Please, don't be angry.”

He looked at his best friend pleading, and James sighed.

“Promise me nothing is going to happen to you. And you have to contact me as soon as possible, I need to know you're okay and not actually dead. Fuck. I don't like this, I don't like this at all.”

Sirius smiled a little.

“I know you don’t. And I promise, I'll behave so no one has to shut my mouth and I'll be in touch.”

He pulled James in for a hug and he wished he never had to let go. He wasn't so sure if Remus would let him call James or write to him, but he was going to try it, anyway.

After a moment, he let go of his best friend reluctantly.

“When?” James asked.

“Soon.” was all Sirius told him.

\---

Sirius was sitting on his bed dabbing on his freshly cut lip with a cloth, when the bedroom door opened and his brother stormed in.

“Why can't you just shut up for once in your life? It's like you want her to do this to you! Why do you have to provoke them all the time!” he shouted.

“I just told her what I was thinking.”

“Well then, don’t!”

Sirius shook his head, getting angry with his little brother. Who did he think he was?

“And then what? Just do as they tell me? No. I will not kiss their asses, I'm not you. I don't care what they say about me or what they do to me! And you shouldn’t either.”

Sirius got up and looked down at his brother, both of them angry now.

“I do care what's happening with you! But you know what? Maybe you're right. Maybe I shouldn't. You obviously don't care what consequences your behaviour might have for others! For me. You just care about yourself, you selfish asshole.” and with that Regulus left.

Sirius heard him go to his own bedroom, the door closing loudly.

He rolled his eyes. His brother was such a drama queen sometimes, so Sirius went after him, knocking on his door.

“Reggie, come on. Let me explain everything, without fighting.” he tried.

“No. I don't want to talk to you now. Maybe tomorrow, now fuck off.”

Sirius shook his head, swallowing. They won't be able to talk tomorrow. It was Wednesday already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Mention of blood, nothing explicit


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please check notes at the end for CW!

**Remus**

The last days went by in a blur. Remus and Leo organized everything that needed to be organized, like a needle to draw blood and bleach to clean up the mess he was going to make.

Now they were both sitting in the car and Remus went through the plan step by step, so he won't forget anything.

“Okay, so I'll be waiting here for you.” Leo said, watching Remus carefully.

He felt Remus' tension; he was good at reading people, Remus had to admit. Working with him wasn't bad after all.

“Yeah. If I'm not back in two hours, something's gone wrong; get the hell out of here and contact O'Hara and Tremblay, they know what to do. Okay?”

Leo nodded.

“Good luck.” he said as Remus left the car.

For the third time, he sneaked through the Black’s mansion, that was two times more than he initially had intended, it had never happened to him before, but plans changed. Obviously.

When he opened Sirius' bedroom door, he was sitting on his bed, awake this time. He looked at Remus, whose heart beat faster out of nervousness. He closed the door behind him quietly and walked over to the other man.

“I thought you might have forgotten me.” Sirius said, his voice a bit teasing.

Remus rolled his eyes. This guy really was something, talking to his assassin like that.

“No, I did not.” Remus said and placed the things he had brought with him on the bed.

Sirius moved closer to get a better look.

“What's that for?” he asked and pointed at the blood drawing kit.

Remus raised his eyebrows.

“How did you think, I would get your blood without actually hurting you?”

Sirius looked at him with horror, his eyes wide.

“I… I didn’t think about it.” his voice was just a whisper.

Remus grinned at him a bit.

“You're afraid of needles.” he stated.

The other one shook his head.

“No, of course not. I just… don't like them, with their pointy ends and all.”

Now Remus had to laugh, Sirius was cute when he was like that.

“Don't worry, I know what I'm doing, I've done this before.”

And this wasn't exactly a lie, he had trained on how to draw blood with Leo for the last couple of days. The poor boy's arm was covered with bruises from it.

“Why do you know how to do this?”

Remus just shrugged vaguely and held out his arm.

“Give me your arm, please.”

He placed the tourniquet around Sirius' arm, took a pad, then disinfected his arm.

Sirius stared at him, following every move he made with watchful eyes.

“Okay… Please lean back and look at the ceiling.” Remus instructed.

He waited until Sirius did as he was told, then took the needle in his hand and looked at his arm to find the vein.

Sirius' breaths were rather fast and Remus looked at him.

“Tell me something. Something I don't know. Something good.”

Sirius looked into his eyes for a moment, then back at the ceiling when he started talking.

“Uhm… When we were still kids, Regulus and I had this place down the road. There is a small forest, I don't know if you know. It's really not large, but it's very nice and not many people go there. Well, it was pretty empty, I don't know what it's like now. I haven't been there in years… So we would go there when our parents were… When they were shit again. We would just run away and hide for a while, pretend that everything we see is ours. We built small hideouts with the branches and moss, had fights with sticks which we pretended were swords and we were some sort of knights…” he smiled at the thought.

“And everything was well for a moment.”

Sirius looked at Remus, then at his arm in surprise. He hadn't noticed the needle at all.

Remus smiled at him genuinely.

“That sounds like a good memory.” he agreed.

They were silent for a moment, Remus watching Sirius and Sirius watching his blood and Remus, smiling shyly at him.

“Please tell me when you start feeling dizzy.” he told Sirius, who nodded.

Sirius closed his eyes. His breathing was even, just a bit too fast, maybe.

“You wanna tell me something else?” Remus asked him.

A smile appeared on Sirius' face, his eyes still closed. Remus liked this smile. It was an honest one, a happy one.

“Hm, let me think for a moment.”

He bit his lip in concentration.

“Oh, okay, I have one. We have this lake in our garden, you probably know that, and in winter when it was frozen, Regulus and I went out there to skate. It was in the middle of the night, so our parents wouldn’t notice us. It was so freaking cold. Afterwards we made hot chocolate to get warm again.” 

Sirius sighed.

“I miss those days… When he was still just my little brother and not my parents' meeple. Also, I’m feeling dizzy now.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, give me a moment.” Remus said.

He fumbled with the needle and pulled it away, then placed a band aid on Sirius' arm.

Remus reached for his bag, took some chocolate out and handed it to him.

“Eat. You'll feel better.”

He waited for a while and watched Sirius eat, then Remus got up and walked into the middle of the room. He spun around several times to look at the room to find the right spot for the crime scene, then he went to the wall where he first encountered him.

This would do.

He turned around to Sirius, who was watching him, Remus swallowed.

“Can you come over here for a second?”

Sirius walked to him and Remus pushed him against the wall, gently this time. He took his knife out and held it to his throat, without any pressure though, he didn't want to hurt him.

“This feels familiar.” Sirius said with a grin on his face.

“Yeah, I need to see how tall you are to prepare…” Remus trailed off.

“Do whatever you have to do.” Sirius shrugged.

After a moment, he let go of him again and started to prepare the fake crime scene. This took him a good while, Sirius watched him from his bed again. When he was pleased with the mess he made, he started scrubbing everything with the bleach he'd brought.

Sirius was standing next to him when he was done.

“You've missed a spot here.”

Remus nodded.

“I know, I did that on purpose. So they see you didn't just run away.”

Sirius looked at him.

“Smart.”

Remus grinned.

“Thanks.”

He cleaned himself up afterwards, then went back to Sirius, who looked sad.

“Come on. We have to go now. Leave your phone here.”

And they left the Black mansion together.

**Sirius**

They went to a white car, a blonde guy sitting in it. Remus opened the door for him and he got inside.

“Uh… Hi.” Sirius said to the blonde.

“Hi. Im Leo. Nice to meet you.”

“Yeah. You too, I guess?”

They drove through the whole town, then parked in front of a small, rundown building.

“Welcome to your new home for the next couple of weeks.” Amber Eyes announced.

Sirius looked at it sceptically, but followed them up to the flat.

Inside it was slightly better. It wasn't the best flat he had ever seen, but at least it was clean.

So this was where he would stay now… Well, it could be worse, right? He could still be with his parents.

Remus looked at him, watching every step he made, so Sirius smiled at him.

“It's yours? Looks… nice.”

Remus laughed, he had detected the lie.

“Come on, I’ll show you where the bedroom is. You need some sleep.”

Sirius followed him into the bedroom. It was small; the bed fitted in there just so, a small wardrobe next to it.

“Take anything you need out of my wardrobe. My clothes might be too large for you, but it'll do for now. I'm in the living room, if you need anything. The bathroom is right next to the bedroom.”

Sirius nodded and Remus left him alone.

He sat down on the bed, moving his fingers over the blanket, then laid down fully clothed. 

How was he supposed to sleep now? He had just faked his death and was now lying in the bed of a stranger, of someone who actually wanted to kill him, and he should just trust him now? No way. 

His thoughts wandered to his brother and the fight they had only a couple of hours ago. He wished he could talk to him now, tell him he was sorry, tell him what was going to happen. When Regulus finds him gone, he would assume that he needed a day away from their family, like he did sometimes. But when he wouldn't come back in the afternoon, Regulus would know something was wrong. He will check his bedroom, find his phone and maybe the small blood spot, which Remus had left on the floor. The thought alone made Sirius heart hurt for his brother. Why did he have to do this to him?

He didn't care about his parents or their feelings, but he did care about his brother. Regulus was going to feel so damn awful.

Sirius swallowed hard and wiped away the tears. He would see his brother again. He knew it, but he was still sorry.

He closed his eyes, the touch of the soft blanket soothing him a little. He noticed a smell. He recognized it as Remus'; he remembered it clearly from the first day they had met. It shouldn't surprise him, it was his bedroom after all.

He snuggled deeper into the blanket and fell asleep despite everything.

\---

Sirius startled awake. He was sweaty and his heart beat fast, because of the nightmare he just had. He swallowed, sat up and looked around. At first he didn't recognize the room he was in, but after a moment the events of the day sank in and he slowly calmed down again. 

His parents weren't even close.

With an almost normal heartbeat, he got up and walked into the kitchen to get some water. A movement on the couch made Sirius stop. Remus was sleeping there, the blanket was thrown carelessly to the floor; he was sweating and his face looked painful, afraid. 

So Sirius wasn't the only one with nightmares.

He walked over to the couch and sat down next to Remus, touching him gently on the shoulder to wake him up, and Remus shot upright immediately, his hands closing around Sirius neck.

Sirius held his hands up in defense, to show him he was unarmed and after a moment Remus let go of him, his eyes still scared.

“Fuck. Do you want to get yourself killed? Do not wake me up. Damn it.” he said, his voice hoarse.

Remus moved a hand through his hair, and Sirius watched him.

“You had a nightmare.” he said.

Remus shook his head.

“No, I didn't.”

“I get them too. I just had one.” he said silently.

Remus took a deep breath, then looked at Sirius with soft eyes and a small smile.

“You wanna talk about it?”

But Sirius shook his head.

“Neither do I.” Remus said, then got up from the couch.

“I don't think I can fall asleep now. You almost scared me to death.” he said.

Sirius had to laugh.

“Thanks for waking me up though…” Remus said, barely audible, then he cleared his throat and continued:

“I get myself some tea. Do you want one too? We could watch a movie or something… I mean, if you don't want to sleep again. If not, I promise you won't hear me, I won't wake you up.”

Sirius got up too.

“Tea and a movie sounds good, actually. I don't want to sleep at the moment, so… Some company would be nice, I guess? If you don't mind me…”

“Yeah, no, I don't mind.”

They stood next to each other awkwardly for a moment, then Remus left and went into the kitchen to make them some tea.

**Finn**

Logan was standing in the kitchen, talking on his phone apparently. Finn sat in the living room and could hear him talking to someone. He looked at Logan when the other boy came into sight again.

“I just got a call from Remus. He did it, he eliminated Black.” he sounded awestruck.

“Oh, wow.”

Logan nodded.

“Yeah. You remember this boy he took with him when he paid us a visit?”

Now it was Finn's turn to nod.

Of course he remembered Leo, he thought about him every day to be honest.

“Well, he is going to work with us now.”

Finn sat up straighter. 

Well, that was some good news, right? He had wanted to see him again the moment he walked through their door with Remus. But now he had to work with him and with Logan. One boy he was in love with for years now and another one he was falling for already. Those weren’t the best circumstances. How was he supposed to stay sane?

Finn felt Logan's eyes on him, so he looked at him and smiled.

“Sounds good to me. He still needs to learn, right? We can show him a thing or two.” 

Logan nodded.

“Yeah, that's actually what Remus just said to me. Leo will be here tomorrow morning at 6:30.”

Okay, so Finn had another night to think on how to handle this whole situation, not that he had many options.

“The newspapers did not cover his death yet, did they?” he asked to change the subject.

“No, it's just been a couple of hours.”

Finn nodded.

“Okay, well… We should check on Regulus and see how the security arrangements for him have changed. I guess things will be more complicated for us now.”

He got up and walked over to where Logan was standing, looking at him.

“Ouais…” he said.

Something was occupying him, Finn could see it on his face, his posture.

“Are you okay, Tremz?”

Logan looked him straight in the eye, Finn's breath hitched a second, but then Logan smiled at him and moved away.

“Yeah. Im okay. I'm just excited, I think. Everything is going to change now, isn't it?”

Finn nodded.

“That's why we're doing this. Come on, then.” he placed his hand on Logan's shoulder shortly as they left their apartment.

Finn knew Logan hadn’t told him the truth, but he also knew Logan; if he cornered him now, he would just shut down completely, so Finn let it go.

\---

The next morning Finn was running up and down in his room, waiting for the doorbell to finally ring. He checked his watch for the hundredth time. 6:25 am.

He sighed and sat down on his bed. He didn't even know why he was so nervous. Well, no, he knew, but it still was stupid and annoying.

A moment later the bell finally rang, and Finn jumped up. He almost ran to the door and crashed into Logan, who already had his hand on the handle.

“Woah, slow down Harzy.” he said and opened the door.

And there he stood: Leo, tall, blonde, with friendly blue eyes and a dimpled smile on his face.

Finn's heart melted on the spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: Needles, Blood, Faking a crime scene, faking someones death


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check notes at the end for TW

**Remus**

Remus was standing in the kitchen, frying eggs and making coffee for him and Sirius. So the first night with his houseguest was kind of weird.

They both had a nightmare and didn't want to sleep afterwards, so they spent the rest of the night sitting next to each other on the couch and watching TV, glancing at each other from time to time with awkward smiles.

It was tense between them and it probably was normal, when living together with the one who wanted to kill you, so he couldn't really blame Sirius, but there was something else, something Remus couldn't quite grasp.

He turned around when he heard Sirius footsteps and smiled at him. Sirius's hair was wet from the shower he had just taken and his cheeks were still flushed.

“How are you feeling?” Remus asked him.

Sirius shrugged.

“Hungry, I guess.”

“Good thing, I'm making breakfast right now. Sit down. How do you want your coffee?”

Sirius sat down and looked at him with curiosity. His eyes followed every move Remus made.

“Hm, with a bit of milk, please. Smelling great, by the way.”

“Thanks.”

Remus poured coffee into a mug and handed it to Sirius together with the milk. Sirius took it from him and smiled.

They ate in silence for a while, Remus needed to plan the next steps.

First thing was to go to Dumbledore and tell him everything was done. By now he should know of Sirius' death, well faked death, but he wasn't supposed to know the truth, and hopefully he wouldn't get suspicious about anything.

“I have to call James.” Sirius said into the silence.

Remus looked at him and shook his head.

“Not a good idea. I'm pretty sure he will be followed by the police or someone your family hired.”

“He needs to know I am okay.” 

He heard the urgency in his voice, but shook his head again.

“No, not now. Okay? We have to wait until everything calms down a bit, it's too dangerous right now. I am not endangering the mission just so you could talk to a friend. He will have to wait.”

Sirius looked at him angrily.

“He is my best friend, he is worried.”

“Well, then he will be worried for a little more time.”

Remus sighed as Sirius got up and headed into the bedroom.

He understood why he wanted to talk to him, he really did, but he couldn't let him. Not yet.

After finishing his breakfast, he cleared the table and checked his watch. Time to tell his boss the news.

Remus walked to the bedroom, knocked shortly and a moment later Sirius opened the door for him, anger still in his eyes.

“I have to go now and get some things done. Stay here, okay? I'll buy food on my way back. Do you need anything? Want anything specific?”

Sirius just shook his head, and Remus sighed.

“Look… I really get it why you want to talk to him, okay? And I am sorry I can't let you right now. Maybe we can arrange something… I could give him a letter from you, I guess. Okay?”

Now it was Sirius' turn to sigh. Then he nodded.

“I'll write one… Oh, and could you buy caramel popcorn?”

A small smile on his lips now.

Remus left Dumbledore's office and let out a deep breath. That went better than he had expected.

Dumbledore already knew that Sirius was dead, and Remus filled him in with the details. So he actually told him about their first encounter, about the night where Remus had decided not to kill him. He hasn't told him about that part of course. He finished his part with the cleaning of the crime scene, so his report wasn't a total lie and that was important.

When you have to lie, stay as close to the truth as possible, that's something Remus had learned rather fast.

He went to the supermarket, bought food and the caramel popcorn and had a quick look through the newspapers. There was nothing in there yet, but he was sure it wouldn't be long until someone wrote about Sirius' mysterious disappearance.

Remus entered his apartment and was very relieved to see Sirius sitting on the couch watching TV. He hadn't left then or was already back, but Remus would figure that out, for now he was happy Sirius was still here.

Sirius looked up from the TV when he heard Remus.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

Remus nodded and brought the groceries into the kitchen, Sirius followed him.

“My boss thinks you're dead, so yeah, everything is okay.”

Remus looked him up and down, raising an eyebrow.

“You stayed here as I told you to?”

“Honestly, I thought about leaving, but I didn't.”

“Smart decision.”

Remus started to fill the cupboards with food, and Sirius helped him. Well, he handed Remus everything, because he didn't know where any of it belonged.

“Okay, so what do you want to do? I mean, not that there is much to do.” Remus said.

Sirius smiled at him and went back into the living room and sat down on the couch.

“We could just watch that show that we started yesterday?”

Remus sat down next to him.

“Sounds good, I can make us popcorn later, I bought the caramel one you wanted.”

Sirius smiled at him.

“Thanks.”

So they watched their show together, Remus sneaked glances at him once in a while, he couldn't help it.

“I can't stop thinking about Reggie.” Sirius broke the silence.

Remus turned around to look at him, but Sirius kept staring at the TV.

“Im sure he's the one who went looking for me, he's the one who told my parents that something was fucking wrong. He honestly is the only one who cares about me, beside James. And we had a fight before I left. He said he didn't want to talk to me, he told me to fuck off. I… I know he is miserable and I can't help it. The only good thing is, I know I'm going to see him again, to make it all up to him, if he doesn't hate me that is.”

Remus heard the desperation in his voice and swallowed. He had to tell him about Regulus, he couldn't leave him in the dark. 

“You won't see him again…” Remus whispered.

But Sirius had heard him. His head snapped around and he stared at Remus.

“Excuse me? Did you just say I won’t see my little brother again? I thought you wouldn't kill me?”

Remus nodded.

“You're right, I won't kill you, but I can't say the same about your brother.”

Sirius stood up abruptly.

“No. No, you can't do that, you can't hurt him! I won't let you hurt him!”

His hands were clenched to fists, his expression angry and desperate. Remus huffed out a laugh.

“Yeah, like you could hurt me.” he got up now too “Listen, I am not doing anything to him, but I know there is someone out there, who will and I can't do anything about it.”

Sirius looked at him pleadingly, frantic. 

“Please, you have to do something. You found a way out for me, please… I can't let him die.” he only managed to choke out that last word.

Remus' heart broke at the sound and he swallowed.

“Please.” Sirius begged him.

“I… See what I can do, if it's not too late already, okay?”

Sirius nodded, and Remus took his phone out of his pocket to call Leo.

It was late at night now, Remus was lying on the couch, wide awake. Sirius went straight into the bedroom after their unpleasant talk and Remus had not heard as much as a sound since then, but he couldn't blame Sirius. It was obviously shocking news to him and Sirius loved his brother dearly, so not knowing if he would see him again, wasn't easy for him.

Remus had talked to Leo, who was with Logan and Finn at the moment. He wanted to know from Leo how far their plan already was and if they could trust the other two. Leo told him they had just started to figure out how to get close to Regulus, as security measures had changed a lot now. He also promised to find out if Finn and Logan could be trusted.

Remus sighed.

It wasn't really an option to get Regulus out just like Sirius, but he didn't want Sirius to hate him and that's how it would end otherwise.

Maybe they could just kidnap him and use him as leverage to get Dumbledore in power, but then Regulus wasn't Sirius and he probably wouldn't play along.

Damn it, he shouldn't have told him.

After another hour of thinking and rolling over and over on the couch, he finally got up and walked silently to the bedroom door.

He pressed one ear onto the door to find out if Sirius was asleep, but he heard muffled cries.

Remus bit his lip and walked into the kitchen, making two cups of hot chocolate and walked back to the bedroom, knocking softly on the door.

“Sirius? It's me,” Obviously, who else should it be “Im sorry, can I come in? Can we talk, please? I… I have hot chocolate.”

He heard the rustling of sheets, then the clicking of the door as it opened.

Sirius looked at him with red-rimmed eyes, looked at the mugs in Remus hands and took one from him.

Remus followed him to the bed and sat down opposite him.

“So, I talked to my colleague… Your brother is safe for now, nothing’s happened yet and I’ll try to figure something out. I can't promise you anything, but I’ll try my best.” Remus said quietly.

Sirius only nodded and kept staring at the mug in his hands.

**Sirius**

The first days were awkward, to say the least. Sirius constantly was torn between being glad to be out of his parents' reach and crying because of his brother.

He felt so helpless, so useless. The only thing he wanted to do was to protect Regulus, but he was locked up here.

Well, technically he wasn't locked up, but Remus had made sure he knew it was best for him and his brothers to stay, so he stayed.

Sirius still didn’t know why he trusted Remus in the first place, but he did.

Remus sat on the couch, only illuminated by the light of the TV, Sirius was watching him from the other side of the room, when he realized he had seen him before. The night at the club, the mysterious stranger.

“Wait… I've seen you before you first visited me. You were watching me one night in the club! I was dancing with that reporter and you were standing upstairs with this other guy!”

Remus looked in his direction.

“I was wondering when you would figure that out. So you have seen me that night.”

Sirius walked over and sat down next to you.

“Yeah, I did. And I would have talked to you if you weren't gone the next second.”

“Good, that I decided to go. You weren't supposed to see me.”

“You make a crappy assassin, you know that?”

Sirius asked him, followed by a laugh, and after a moment Remus was laughing with him.

That's how it was between them, tense and difficult, but then it was easy and it felt natural to be with Remus the next moment.

Remus sighed and his face went stern again. He was still looking at Sirius.

“I usually am very good at my job. You are the first target who survived…”

“Why did you let me live, then?”

Remus shrugged.

“I honestly don't know. Maybe because you were so determined for me to end your life and… you looked so miserable. I think I wanted to show you that your life is not worthless, that you are not worthless. And I promise I'll show you.”

Sirius looked at him, his mouth dry. He wasn't able to say a word.

Remus smiled at him.

“That wasn't what you had expected, right?”

“No.” Sirius admitted.

He smiled at Remus, thankful for his honesty.

“Hm, so is that what your nightmares are about? The people you've… eh…”

“The people I've killed? Well… Part of it… yeah. I am not a monster, at least I think I am not. I hope I'm not.”

“You're not a monster.” Sirius blurted out.

Remus laughed.

“Thanks, I guess.” he said, not convinced at all.

“No, really. I mean it. You are not a monster. I know you don't believe me, because I don't really know you, but I just know it.”

Sirius looked into Remus' amber eyes,, hoping that Remus would believe him.

He carefully took his hand and squeezed it gently.

“Trust me.”

Remus looked at him with a small smile.

“I try.”

Sirius was sitting on the bed, a sheet of paper in front of him and a pen in his hand. So everything for James' letter was ready, except for the words. He just couldn't think of the right words to tell James everything was alright.

_Dear James,_

_I am okay, I really am. I can't tell you where I am, it's better if you don't know, at least for now._

_I hope you're okay, and the situation isn't too bad for you. I know it's not ideal for you; I guess the police interrogated you already. I'm so sorry that you have to go through all of this._

_Remus, the guy I'm staying with, is nice. We're coming along okay. I mean, it's weird, he tried to kill me and I don't trust him but then I do trust him, because there isn't anything else I can do right now, is there?_

_I have a request for you: I know there is someone out there, who wants to kill my brother. Please, please can you look out for him? I know I'm asking too much right now, but I can't protect him at the moment and you know I trust you with my life. You know how much Reggie means to me, and I can't lose him._

_You can't contact me and I don't know when I'll be able to talk to you again, so just know I am alive, I am doing everything to stay alive and I miss you._

_Take care_

_Sirius_

He read the letter several times. Sirius knew it was bad, but when he looked at all the crumbled papers next to him, he decided it wouldn't get any better.

James will know he was fine and, most important, he would watch out for Regulus.

After folding the letter and putting it inside the envelope, he got up and went into the living room. He tried to be quiet; he didn't know if Remus was asleep already, but as soon as he entered the room, Remus' head turned around to look at him.

“Oh… Did I wake you up?” Sirius asked.

Remus shook his head.

“No, don’t worry. Im reading something.”

He held up his phone to show it to Sirius, who walked over and sat down next to him. A picture of himself brought his attention to Remus' phone.

“Is this about me?”

Remus nodded.

“You are officially missing now. The police are investigating. I'm just reading the articles to check what's happening.”

“Can I?”

Remus gave him his phone and Sirius read the article. He didn't make it far though, a photo of his family distracted him. His parents looked as always, but his brother… 

Sirius swallowed hard.

He could see the agony in Regulus' face. He tried to hide it, but Sirius knew him too well: the thin line of his lips, his shoulders a bit too straight and he was holding something in his left hand, something small. Sirius knew what it was.

After another bad fight with his parents, he and Regulus needed some time away, and they went into the little forest near their house. They spent the whole afternoon there, pretending everything was alright. Sirius found a small piece of wood and started to carve it with his pocket knife. He tried to turn it into a dog, Regulus was watching him the whole time and, when it was done, Sirius gave it to him and Regulus kept it all those years.

Sirius knew he was holding it in the photo, he just knew it.

“Are you okay?” Remus asked him after a moment.

Sirius gave him his phone back, without looking.

“No, not really. It's my brother, he...“ Sirius sighed “Do you have siblings?”

“No.”

“Okay… I can't really explain. He is my little brother, I want to protect him and right now he is hurt and I can't do anything about it. I am actually the reason.”

“Hey… It'll get better, you will see him again.”

“I hope so. I really do.”

Sirius smiled at him.

“Do your parents know what you're doing?” he asked Remus to change the subject.

“No, they don't.”

“So what did you tell them, what you're doing?”

“Nothing, I didn't have to. They are dead.”

Sirius bit his lips, so that wasn't the right subject to talk about either.

“I am sorry.”

Remus laughed a little, a sad laugh.

“There is a reason why I'm so determined to end your family's reign. It's not only that your parents don't care about the people, that they only do what's best for them. I also have my personal reasons”

They were sitting close to each other, Sirius could feel where their legs were touching and he didn't mind it, to be honest he liked being close to him.

“You don't have to tell me why, just know you can if you want to.”

Remus shrugged.

“It's not a secret, not really. I don't know if you remember the protest movement against your family a couple of years ago? My parents were part of it. It was mostly a peaceful protest, but something went wrong and your parents decided to end the protest not so peacefully. My parents were part of the few that died that day. So lets be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of your family. But I think I changed my mind about you. You're different.”

“Oh, yeah, I am different. Thanks for noticing.” Sirius said grinning.

“I am sorry about your parents, though. I remember that day and I hated everything about it. The protesters did nothing wrong, it was just…”

He shook his head slightly, then took Remus' hand.

“Im sorry.”

Remus gave him a reassuring squeeze.

“It's not your fault.”

They sat next to each other in silence, Sirius drawing small circles with his thumb over Remus hand. Holding his hand felt right, it felt natural.

This isn't how you should feel about your assassin, he knew that, but he couldn't help it.

“Remus?”

Remus looked up from their hands and right into Sirius' eyes.

“What?” Remus asked after a moment of awkward silence.

But Sirius didn't answer. 

Instead, he closed the little distance between them and kissed him gently.

**Finn**

Finn, Logan and Leo sat together in their small kitchen, each one having a cup of coffee in front of them.

Finn couldn't stop looking between Logan and Leo; they were so different in their looks and behaviour, but Finn liked them both more than he was supposed to.

“Okay, so we're splitting up today. You are with Logan, Leo. You're watching Regulus together and I keep watching him from another point of view, so we don't lose track of him, okay?”

The other two nodded.

Finn took the last sip of his coffee and got up. As much as he wanted to be with Logan or Leo or, even better, both of them at the same time, he needed to concentrate on his work now and that was easier if he did not get distracted by one of them. That's why he wanted to do this on his own today, he needed his brain.

“Were staying in touch over the earpieces.” Logan told him.

They checked their devices, then Finn left them with a wink in their direction.

Outside of their apartment, he took a deep breath.

They were stuck in the flat for the last couple of days, trying to fill Leo in on what they were doing and waiting for the change they expected after Sirius' death.

It was nice to finally be back outside and doing something.

Regulus was in the city with his parents, running some errands, and Finn followed him at a safe distance. He didn't know where Leo and Logan were, but he could hear them talking.

"Merde." Shit Finn heard Logan say over the earpiece.

"What? What's wrong?" Finn asked.

"Nothing, Harzy. I just spilled my coffee."

Finn kept watching Regulus and his parents.

"Tu parles français?" Leo.

"Ouais." Logan.

"D'où viens-tu?" Leo.

"Québec, Canada. Et tu?"

"Ah, Canada. Jamais été là avant. Je suis de New Orleans."

Finn rolled his eyes. Seems like he has a thing for French talking men. Great.

"Guys. English, please."

He heard Logan snicker.

“You should learn French, Fish. You're outnumbered now.”

Finn shook his head, but smiled. Maybe, one day, if he had a reason for it.

“Please, just do your job, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” Logan said.

The security measures were higher now. There were two additional bodyguards walking close to Regulus, so it won't be easy to get to him alone and unnoticed.

Remus killed Sirius in their mansion, and Finn was sure they added some security features there as well.

They should have thought about that earlier and then talked to Remus, so they could have synchronized their assassinations, damn it.

After another hour or so, the Blacks were driving back to their mansion and Finn decided to go back to their apartment, Leo and Logan would watch the Black mansion for a while.

He took a quick shower, then sat down on the couch with the blueprints of the house. Remus gave it to them and Finn had no clue where he got them from, but he was thankful nevertheless.

He studied the blueprints, trying to find a good way in and out, memorizing every detail of it.

Finn opened his eyes when he felt the couch sinking in on his left. He sat up straight and cracked his neck. He must have fallen asleep. The blueprints were still scattered all around him.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Logan said from next to Finn. “You had a nice nap, while we were working?”

Finn looked at him, Logan was grinning, he wasn't really mad at him.

“I fell asleep, I guess. I… Uhm… What's smelling so good?”

“We bought dinner.” Leo said and presented the pizza boxes in his hand.

“Oh, perfect. Thanks.”

Finn moved to the side to make room for Leo on the couch, and Leo sat down next to him on the other side.

Finn's heart started beating fast, Logan was sitting on his one side, Leo on his other. He really liked the proximity to both of them.

“So, did you find out anything new?” Finn asked them.

Logan shrugged and took a piece of pizza.

“Not really, they stayed at home for the whole time. The police visited them and Sirius' bodyguard showed up at one point, but that's it. The atmosphere was strange, though.”

“How?”

Finn took a bite from his pizza. It was delicious.

“You tell him, Knutty. You noticed it.”

Finn looked at Logan in confusion. Knutty?

“Well, I've watched the employees. They were behaving oddly around Walburga and Orion, chatting to each other when they weren't looking and they had that expression on their faces… somehow ruthless. I don't know how to describe it, it wasn't good, that's all.”

Finn nodded.

“Knutty?” he asked. He still wasn't over the nickname. When did that happen?

Logan laughed.

“Well, yes. You know Leo’s last name is Knut, so I came up with Knutty.”

Logan threw a quick look in Leo’s direction, but Finn noticed the longing in it and his heart clenched.

Logan had never looked at Finn that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW mention of assassination, dead parents, nothing explicit


End file.
